 Former commissioner Chris Epps and several other individuals have pleaded guilty or been convicted as of February 2017 in this continuing investigation.As a result of this investigation, in February 2017, Mississippi State Attorney General Jim Hood announced a civil suit against 15 contractors and several persons for damages and punitive damages, to recover the amounts of state contracts awarded under Epps during the roughly decade-long period when he has been found to have been taking bribes.GEO Group was among the for-profit prison management companies named in this suit.